Lakhmids

The Lakhmids were an Arab kingdom of southern Iraq which existed from 300 AD to 602 AD, with al-Hirah serving as their capital. During the 2nd century AD, the Banu Lakhm tribe migrated north from Yemen, and their king Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr seized many cities in the Arabian Peninsula, converted to Christianity, and developed the Lakhmids as a naval power. The Lakhmids attacked the coastal cities of Iran, even raiding the birthplace of the Sassanid kings, Fars Province. In 325 AD, the Sassanids invaded the Arab kingdoms with 60,000 soldiers, and Shapur II defeated the Lakhmid army, captured al-Hirah, slaughtered all the Arab men of the city, and took the women and children as slaves. The Persians then installed Aws ibn Qallam as their client king, and Imru' al-Qais died in exile in Syria in 328 AD. In 330 AD, a revolt killed Aws, and the Lakhmids, still Persian clients, went to war with the Roman Empire's vassals, the Ghassanids. In 602 AD, the last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, was executed by the Persian emperor Khosrau II for treason, and the Lakhmids were annexed.